Wiggle Ventures team with the Hon. Minister Elias Mubanga, MP, Minister of Small and Medium Enterprise Development at the Climate Smart Conference for SMEs and Entrepreneurs at Radisson Blu Hotel, Lusaka Ministry of Small and Medium Enterprise Development.
In Zambia and globally, climate change effects of great intensity continue to rise, threatening sustainable development, food security, and economic growth. Notably, economic growth in Zambia within the context of a green economy is largely driven by entrepreneurs including Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). The current policy direction by the government in attaining a full green economy will soon require businesses to develop climate-smart strategies to address carbon emissions generated by activities performed by nature and humans. Therefore, the immediate risk businesses face from climate change is the “regulatory risk’’ posed by government limits on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Regulation everywhere will soon require businesses to develop climate-smart strategies to respond mainly to addressing carbon emissions generated by the activities performed both by nature and by mani. The Zambian government recognizes that regulations and incentives are needed to stimulate green investments and address externalities, that have led to inefficient use of resources.
Entrepreneurs are pivotal in identifying and pursuing opportunities that deliver environmental benefits. However, they face significant challenges in pivoting their businesses to adopt climate-friendly practices. These challenges include navigating new regulatory frameworks, inadequate financial resources, and capacity limitations, primarily due to a lack of knowledge and technical know-how. This makes climate-smart discourse more theoretical than practical for many entrepreneurs, particularly affecting women entrepreneurs disproportionately.
This conference will be the meeting of ‘‘climate smart entrepreneurs’’ that will provide the much-needed platform which will articulate clearly how climate-smart strategies that are consistent with sound business planning, innovation, good corporate governance, and practice can be developed and applied.
The conference will also look at Environmental Social Governance (ESG) criteria that are increasingly recognized as essential for assessing the long-term financial performance and ethical impact of businesses. Companies that excel in ESG practices tend to manage risks more effectively, attract investment, and foster trust among stakeholders. ESG-driven strategies contribute to sustainable development by balancing profit with purpose, ultimately enhancing both corporate reputation and societal outcomes.
The public policy debate on tackling climate change is no longer about whether to take action, it is about how much action needs to be taken to combat its devastating effects.
As such, the overarching goal of the conference is:
To attain eco-inclusive entrepreneurship that drives low carbon economy and sustainability in Africa.
The key objectives of the conference are:
(a) To promote opportunities for climate-smart entrepreneurship through targeted communication, knowledge sharing, and funding opportunities.
(b) Promote international networking between local small and medium-sized enterprises and those of other African countries.
(c) Organize post-conference capacity-building workshops for climate-smart entrepreneurs to sustain learning and engagement with climate change thinking (we will encourage the participation of female entrepreneurs by introducing tailored niche support programs).
The following activities will provide a platform for key local, national, and international stakeholders to collaborate and establish long-term partnerships that will realize eco-inclusive entrepreneurship's transformative potential:
The conference will be covered by speeches, enriching panels, workshops, roundtable discussions and highly interactive sessions.
Dealing with climate change will require far-reaching economic and social transformations, as such, entrepreneurs have the potential to play a significant role in developing climate technologies that can help communities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to climate change. With the right encouragement, guidance, and support, entrepreneurs can channel their efforts effectively into developing climate-friendly solutions. Therefore, at this conference, Climate-smart innovators will showcase their wares/projects and connect with entrepreneurs, SMEs, smallholder cooperatives, big companies, investors, and policymakers to steer this change.
The conference will run a competition. The main purpose of the competition is to originate bankable projects to encourage innovation and stimulate entrepreneurial interest in climate-smart thinking. Innovators will openly be invited to make green business propositions that tackle the impacts and causes of climate change at the landscape level and attract investments to implement these initiatives. Winners get sponsored seed funding of between $5000 - $10,000 tied to technical assistance to be delivered by Wiggle Ventures.
The conference is planned to take place at Radisson Blu, Lusaka.
28th -29th November 2024
29th November 2024
Wiggle Ventures will support Climate SMART entrepreneurs by taking them through a Climate technology incubators and accelerators program (using a workshop format). This will provide them with broad-ranging support to develop business know-how, market connections, and overall technical capacity, and obtain guidance on sources of finance.
The audience for the conference is entrepreneurs, companies, policymakers, investors, civil society organizations, financial institutions, NGOs, foundations, donor agencies, Incubator and Accelerator programs, and the government sector.
Knowledge gathered and shared on different types of climate-smart business models and technologies to protect the environment, improve community incomes, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and improve resilience to the effects of climate change.